Re: Question

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Question
From: RWB355-at-aol-dot-com (by way of Terry Fritz <terryf-at-verinet-dot-com>)
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 06:16:50 -0600
Approved: terryf-at-verinet-dot-com
 What is an OBIT and a DWC Coil? 
                     Still Learning,
                                Jordan

Hi Jordan, All

No problem with the unknown abr. Sometimes I too have to think about what an
abbreviation means:

I sorted them into catagories. Here are a few:

BTW:By The Way

IM(H)O: In My (Honest) Opinion

Coiler: One of us. A person who plays (works) with Tesla coils.

HF:/RF: High Frequency. 
The operating frequency of a Tesla Coil. Usually from 60-700khz

HV: High Voltage

Variac: Variable AC Transformer.
A control unit which allows a gradual increase in voltage.

Former: The secondary coil form.

Toroid: A top capacitance.
We use it to load the secondary coil, drop its frequency and it holds off the 
breakout. We store the voltage in the toroid (~capacitor).
This gives us longer arcs.

Lossy: Material experiencing losses (in the form of heat) at Tesla coil
frequencies. PVC is a lossy material for cap construction (as dielectricum).
You want to keep
your losses to a minimum. Everything "lossy" will result in less output.

OBIT: Oil Burner Ignition Transformer

NST: Neon Sign Transformer

PT: Potiential Transformer (a mid sized version of a pig)

PIG: A power line distribution transformer (also called POLE PIG)

MOT: Microwave Oven Transformer

DWC: Disruptive Wave Coil: The spark gap powered Tesla Coil

CW(TC): Continues Wave Tesla Coil: A TOOB or solid state (yuck) TC.

Resonant Charging: A special form of the Tesla primary tank circuit. 
This allows us to cancel some of the losses a transformer has.
The primary capacitor is matched to the impedance of the high voltage
transformer to resonate at 50/60 Hz.Doing so, lets us "suck" more current out
of
the (current limited) xformer, which is what I was telling Martin.

Banjo Effect: A wavy streamer which looks like a swinging banjo string.

Streamer: A spark from the TC not hitting anything. It just "hangs" in the
air.

Arc/Strike/Hit: A streamer connecting to a grounded object.

Strike Rail: Usually a circular piece of  copper tube suspended above the
primary. This open (!) circle is connected to the RF ground and prevents hits
to the primary.

Breakout: This is the voltage where a streamer or arc starts to form

Plasma Globe: 
An evacuated glass envelope powered by HF/HV exhibiting tesla like streamers
inside of the glass.

PE: Polyethelene

Rolled Poly Cap: A (usually oil filled) cap made from PE sheets and AL foil 
and then rolled up.

SW Cap: A salt water cap. Very cheap and easy to build, but very lossy.

Flat Cap: A capacitor made from stacking flat plates on top of each other.

SF(S)G: Saftey Spark Gap

Multi Gap: A series arrangement of spark gaps

SG: Spark Gap (also called Static Gap)

RQ(SG): Richard Quick Spark Gap

TF Gap: A modified type of RQ Gap from Terry Fritz (our moderator)

RSG: Rotary (moving electrode) Spark Gap

SRSG: Synchronos Rotary Spark Gap

ASRSG: ASynchronos Rotary Spark Gap

Q: The ratio of inductive part to resistive part of a circuit. 
This describes circuit behavior. A high Q circuit will respond sharper,
harder.

Quench: Describes how well a spark gap can switch and cut off current flow.

1st or 2nd or 3rd or... notch quenching. =  

This is a copy of what Terry posted some time ago.
He explains it better than I ever could

When the gap conducts, the energy is transfered from the primary system to the
secondary system.  If the gap continues to conduct, the energy in the
secondary system will be returned to the primary system and this cycle will
continue back and forth until the gap either quenches or the system runs down
due to losses.  If the gap quenches after the first energy transfere, it is
first notch quenching.  If it takes
two complete transfers, it is second notch quenching.  Three transfers is
third notch quenching.  After that, it is usually considered as "no quenching"
or "fails to quench".  I think we want first notch quenching since there is
minimal chance for energy to be lost in the gap and primary resistances and
maximum energy is traped in the secondary.  Many back and forth energy
transfers allow very high losses without producing good output arcs.  There is
some disagreement on this however.


Coiler greets from germany,
Reinhard